Well shock and horror…I raced!
At our club breakfast on the Saturday morning I had a
good, balanced (ish) and informed conversation with one of my coaches (Thanks
Steve). In my expectation of being told not to race I kind of pussyfooted
around the topic but once Steve put me in my place we had a better conversation
and laid out the pros and cons of actually racing, the prognosis from my physio
and how I physically was.
Sunday morning swung round and I joined approximately
1,700 other competitors (over 3 different events) to toe the line at Hillarys,
which was the first race in the Telstra Tri Series of events that I have signed
up for. Once again my awesome club was
there in force and we had our athlete’s tent set up as a meeting, marshalling,
preparing and recovering area.
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| Club tent...also, all three races so far I have a picture of Ed...people will start to talk soon.... |
Passed through the relevant registration and body marking
areas before we could gain access to the transition zone. A bit sad to admit
but this time round we also had one of our calves marked with our age group
letter…I actually found myself pointing my toes and trying to get the muscle to
“pop” for the body marker…needless to say she didn’t gush and compliment
me…must remember to type a letter of complaint ;)
Transition set up is starting to become a little more
routine…I REALLY need to start training without socks to see if I can hack it
as I think that will save me some time when it comes to transitions for these
shorter events. It was really interesting to see the people that have not set
up transitions before (there were over 300 first timers at the race) and I was
really happy to part a couple of words of advice that I have picked up from
trial and error so far. Just a few short months ago I was one of them and even
something as simple as which side to rack my bike was foreign to me has now
become second nature…getting it wrong however kind of puts everyone either side
of you in a bit of a mood…I witnesses this first hand on the weekend. The
tantrum I saw unfold is also a testament to the fact that you need to relax and
roll with it on race mornings…
It was a beautiful morning; Mother Nature really did turn
it on for us!
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| Couple of people on the beach for the briefing... |
Given the fact that there were three events an so many
competitors it seemed that my age group was one of the “lucky ones” that got to
head off later in the day – a 8:46 start. Now I don’t have any issues with the
later start time as I got to see most of my training buddies head off on their
races but the only drawback to the later start was the fact that it was
starting to get warm…and the run would be hot!
The swim – this was the busiest swim I have been in so
far with almost 90 in my wave. I stuck to the right hand side of the pack and
made my way round the course. Around the buoys there was the usual scrum of
activity and vying for position that you come to expect when everyone is trying
to take the inside line but I am pleased to say that I held my own and emerged
unscathed from the swim. I was even more pleased when I looked at my watch and
saw 12:39 for the 750m. A new PB.
T1 & T2 – these were both over 2 mins a piece. Now I
am sure that I could have shaved some time here but in truth looking at all of
the results this was a common time spend. I honestly think it is down to the
distances from the beach and road in each case. In each of my previous races
the “additional distance” for transitions was only around 100 – 150 metres…in
this race it was closer to 700m! But we all had the same experience and
distance to travel so no whinging from me…Both transitions were smooth with my
only thoughts about trying to race sans socks…we will have to see how a couple
of training sessions go first.
The bike – 3 laps of an undulating course. Pretty
uneventful overall. Overtook a few and was overtaken by a few. Made a conscious
effort to drink my water bottle to dilute the salt water that I managed to
inhale on the swim. Had my usual gel with 5kms to go and just like that the
bike was finished. I was much happier than the previous race, at least this
time I did feel more comfortable on the bike overall. Next step is to start to
push it a little more and speed up! 20km – 38:30. A new PB!
The run – an out and back along the coastal path. I
started out conservatively. I had been for a 3km jog the evening before to
assess the hamstring and came home feeling fine from that…sure a little tender
but certainly not sore nor in pain but that said, I did still decide that the
day was going well enough that I would run a comfortable pace for the 5km. It
was a good run on a nice path. There was no shade at all and I will admit that I
was very grateful when I eventually found the turnaround point! Every step then
is a step closer to home! 5km – 26:38. Respectable but certainly no PB.
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| Taken as I noticed my beautiful family on the finish chute... |
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| Not sure what is going on with the index finger on the right hand.... |
It was a good race and a great day and I really did enjoy
it. Having done some talking and thinking post-race I am pleased that I did
race. I needed this race…this was the
official start to the 70.3 and 140.6 campaign. This was the continued of the
banishment of a few of those “fat demons” that I still have in my mind and
still need fighting with on a fairly frequent basis…and was the proving point,
to myself more than anyone, that yes I can do it and can achieve.
Thanks for reading and I am looking forward to more
training, more races and big things to come!
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